Effective monitoring and prediction of flood and drought events requires an improved understanding of surface water dynamics. We examined how the relationship between surface water extent, as mapped using Landsat imagery, and climate, is a function of landscape characteristics, using the Prairie Pothole Region and adjacent Northern Prairie in the United States as our study area. We found that at a landscape scale wetlands play a key role in informing how climate extremes influence surface water.

Effective monitoring and prediction of flood and drought events requires an improved...